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Meh. Around here, at least, (Huntsville, Alabama) they're just making newer and different malls. They're still malls though. When I first moved here in 2005, t
by peckrob 12y ago
Meh. Around here, at least, (Huntsville, Alabama) they're just making newer and different malls. They're still malls though.
When I first moved here in 2005, the bigger of the two malls in town (Madison Square Mall) had just received a major renovation and was bustling. A few years later (I think this was about 2007) they announced this new major construction project called Bridge Street[0]. It was just about two miles away from Madison Square.
It was essentially an outdoor mall, with all the same stores you would expect to find in any mall. Just outside. Within the last six years, pretty much all the stores that were at Madison Square Mall have relocated to Bridge Street. In fact, Bridge Street just underwent a big expansion so that one of the department stores at Madison Square could move in.
These days, everyone goes to Bridge Street, and Madison Square Mall is mostly empty except for check cashing places, blacklight golf places, and, strangely, a Sears that just hasn't moved yet - which is pretty much the only reason I even go to Madison Square any more at all. There may be one other department store there hanging on too. But other than that it's mostly empty. The escalators were even turned off when I went in there a few weeks ago.
Madison Square Mall was built in the mid 80s, and started going down hill after about 20 years. The other mall in town was built in the late 90s and is still doing "mostly okay" but you can tell Bridge Street hurt them some too. So I figure it's only a matter of time before Bridge Street starts to go down hill and all those same stores move on to whatever the next trend in shopping is.
And, just like Madison Square, leaving a blighted landscape of mostly or completely abandoned buildings in their wake.
They're still building malls. Just calling them different things - "lifestyle centers," "outdoor entertainment complexes," etc. But they're still malls.
[0] http://www.bridgestreethuntsville.com/ http://www.bridgestreethuntsville.com/
- GuiA 12y agoIn the Bay Area, there's such an outside mall in Emeryville (east bay, right next to Oakland). There's ikea, a movie theater, uniqlo, and an H&M, along with many other restaurants and stores I don't go to. It even has a Barnes and Noble! (I thought they had all disappeared)
- peckrob 12y agoYeah, this place is a lot like that. Movie Theater (actually the nicest theater in town) with a sushi bar in it, H&M, Barnes and Noble, etc. We're too small for an IKEA (the closest one's in Atlanta).
- twic 12y agoBlacklight golf?
- peckrob 12y agoImagine an indoor mini-golf course, but under black lights. With everything glowing strange neon colors. One section of it is in a different room, with no lights except a flashing strobe.
- twic 12y agoI have no idea how people come up with ideas like this, but i'm glad they do. Now i'm imagining some kind of blacklight triathlon event featuring laserquest, golf, and breakdancing.
- seanalltogether 12y agoSo what I can't figure out is if the new outdoor malls are just a fad, or if they represent a different shift in retail planning that will stick around for a long time. I will admit that I like the outdoor ones that have multiple avenues built in for wandering around, and it feels like the shops are more substantial then mall stores. The article mentions that when an anchor leaves a raditional mall, the disease spreads, are outdoor malls immune to this effect?
- frankydp 12y agoThe industry will be moving from the lifestyle format to the outlet format almost exclusively over the next 20 years. The C malls referred to in the article are just that, C malls. Malls that may have been B malls in the past but have depreciated to a point where scrape and rebuild or relo are the only options. There are currently about 50 new malls/outlets on the books for this year and next with another 50 on the following 2 years nation wide.
- dragonwriter 12y agoOutdoor shopping centers and multiple seller under one roof centers have both been in use for millenia, neither is exactly a passing fad. But I think large enclosed malls have greater construction, maintenance, and operating expenses, so if people aren't willing to pay a premium for the experience they provide, they won't thrive.
- smackfu 12y agoThe next steps is to tear down the old mall, and replace it with an "inverted mall." Big box stores on the edges of the property, and parking in the middle.
- jksmith 12y agoYeah same thing down in Bham. The indoor malls are becoming derelict, with the use of the word "mall" reverting to an original meaning, like an outdoor area that happens to include sidewalk stores.
- fixedd 12y agoYou've got places like The Summit and The Pinnacle which are basically just scaled-up strip malls. Then there's places like The Shopes at Grand River (is that what it's called??? the place in Leeds)that really ought to just be enclosed as they're designed just like the malls of old.
- mahyarm 12y agoWhat I don't get about these outdoor malls, is what happens during winter time compared to an indoor mall? A big appeal of indoor malls in rainy and cold places is that you don't have to deal with the cold and the rain in those malls.
- btgeekboy 12y agoThere's one of those outdoor malls in Seattle, next to the University of Washington. Yes, Seattle, where there's nice summer weather for about 2 months a year. I genuinely don't understand it.
- PhantomGremlin 12y agoWe have Bridgeport Village, the same situation in Tigard/Tualatin Oregon. Makes no sense to me either. It's nearby, so I go there on occasion because they have a movie theater and an Apple store. But I'd much prefer an indoor mall for about 9 months of the year.
- dded 12y ago> and, strangely, a Sears that just hasn't moved yet I believe Sears owns most of its real estate, so maybe moving isn't so easy.
- joezydeco 12y agoIt'll happen soon. Sears just announced the selling of 200 to 300 stores to a REIT, which will own the property and lease it back to the retail stores. This is pretty much how Sears will die. http://money.cnn.com/2014/11/07/investing/sears-selling-stores/ http://money.cnn.com/2014/11/07/investing/sears-selling-stor...